strumstrum
strumstrum noun: any stringed musical instrument that is played with the fingertips, especially one considered to be foreign.
Noun
strumstrum (plural strumstrums)
- Any stringed musical instrument that is played with the fingertips, especially one considered to be foreign.
- […] in the Churches belonging to Indian Towns they have all sorts of Vizards, and strange antick Dresses both for Men and Women, and abundance of Musical Hautboys and Strumstrums. The Strumstrum is made somewhat like a Cittern; most of those that the Indians use are made of a large Goad cut in the...1697, William Dampier, chapter 5, in A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, page 127
- Their Guitars, if not their Sole, are their darling Instruments, and what they most delight in: Tho’ in my Opinion our English Sailors are not much amiss in giving them the Title of Strum Strums.1728, George Carleton (attributed to Daniel Defoe), The Memoirs of an English Officer, London: E. Symon, p. 279
Forms of strumstrum
| plural | strumstrums |
|---|---|
| alternative form | strum-strum |
| alternative form | strum strum |
Origin of strumstrum
Probably from strum; compare also humstrum.
Questions about strumstrum
- What does strumstrum mean?
- Strumstrum means any stringed musical instrument that is played with the fingertips, especially one considered to be foreign.
- What part of speech is strumstrum?
- Strumstrum is a noun.
- What is the plural of strumstrum?
- The plural of strumstrum is strumstrums.
Words near strumstrum in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: strumstrum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “strumstrum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strumstrum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.